As I sit here looking out of the window, there are leaves falling in great profusion from the trees in my neighborhood, the temperature is in the 60s outside, we’ve had only 1 frost so far this fall (Oct. 24), and I’m still mowing my lawn every 6-7 days. It’s been an unbelievably mild and lovely fall in Southeastern PA this year. I’m looking at the 10-day weather forecast and seeing that we will probably get our first killing frost of the year (temperatures dropping below freezing overnight) in the next few days (before you read the Newsletter), but then again, we’ll be back in the 60s again for a while. My long-winded point is: it may be well into November on the calendar, but Mother Nature is still showing us that the 2023 growing season is not yet over. The ground is still warm; lawns are still growing, seed is still germinating, fall-blooming plants are still blooming, and it’s still nice being outside most days. We’re strongly recommending that you not consider ending your yard maintenance activities for another several weeks:
- Mowing of lawns should continue for another month or more (although with less frequency in coming weeks).
- Leaves MUST continue to be removed from lawns as they continue to fall or blow in from adjoining areas. Rake, collect while mowing or blow them into adjoining wooded areas, but do not let them lay on the lawn or they’ll smother the grass.
- All lawns need one more fertilization, the most important one of the year: LAWN DEPOT WINTERFEAST heavyweight turf food.
- Cool season perennial weeds (ground ivy, wild violets, chickweed, etc.) can still be removed with a liquid herbicide treatment.
- Liming of lawns (to reduce soil acidity) is strongly recommended at this time of the year.
- In the landscape, any remaining annuals should be pulled from beds, pots and/or planters, perennials can be cut back, and now that all landscape plants have entered winter dormancy, they should be fertilized, and any desired pruning for shape can be done.
So, there’s lots of work still to do before the snow flies. It’s been a terrific year overall, weather-wise. We urge you to finish the year strong. You’ll be thrilled with the results next spring, when the 2024 growing season begins.
Lawn Depot Turf Management is well into its late fall application activities: WINTERFEAST FERTILIZING and late fall liming, as we wrap up our 2023 season. To those of you who have patronized our excellent Turf Management Division over the years, we thank you greatly! We strive to be the best in the industry, and your continued loyalty is truly gratifying to us. If you are not currently a Turf Management customer and might consider becoming one in 2024, either for single applications or for one of our several season-long programs, we ask you to contact us. You can either drop by the Garden Center, call us (215-348-5553), or look us up on the web (www.lawndepotinc.com) and selecting “Request an Estimate”. As long as the weather cooperates this fall and winter, we’ll be out to evaluate, and measure your lawn and shortly after the first of the new year, we’ll email you an estimate for the services you requested. If you don’t use email, please mention this with your service request, and we’ll mail you your estimate.
The Lawn Depot Nursery and Garden Center will be open every day through the end of November, after which we’ll be closed on Sunday’s starting December 3rd. We ARE open all winter; please check our web site for hours and days of operation. The Garden Center still has lots of WINTERFEAST FERTILIZER in 5,000 and 10,000 sq. ft. bags, EVERGREEN perennial ryegrass seed blend (for those of you who still have to do some late spot seeding). And, of course, we’re still fully stocked with all the garden fertilizers and conditioners you may need, tools for all gardening uses, and a complete line of bird feeders, feed and related items. In the Nursery Yard we’ve still got lots of healthy perennials that can be planted this fall that will burst forth beautifully next spring.
This will be our last Newsletter for 2023; we’ll resume in March with our early spring Newsletter in March of 2024. This completes our 50th year of working with many of the greatest, most loyal lawn and gardening customers, doing what we love doing: helping you get the best results possible in your yards in all your endeavors. We’ve always done it this way, and plan to continue for many more years. Thanks to all of you for being the greatest people to work with for so long. Happy holidays to all of you from all of us!
Bob Button